Roadworks

State Highway 1 Tīrau to Waiouru accelerated maintenance project

This NZTA Waka Kotahi project will see four years’ worth of road renewals completed within 16 months. Much of the work impacts roads in and directly around the South Waikato District.

Check out the latest updates below and for more information or any concerns on the SH1 Tīrau to Waiouru maintenance, please email SH1Waikato@nzta.govt.nz or visit nzta.govt.nz/t2w

Latest updates

Tokoroa to upper Ātiamuri to partially re-open on 22 Nov

Adverse weather means SH1 between Kinleith Road (near Tokoroa) and upper Ātiamuri will not be partially opening on 21 November and it is instead hoped it will openon 22 November at 12 noon.

The southern section of this zone, from Kinleith Road to upper Ātiamuri, will be opened under traffic management. The northern section between Campbell Road and Kinleith will remain closed until Wednesday 27 November next week.

NZTA lost four days of work due to adverse weather since it was first closed on 6 October.

The partial reopening means the length of the detours can be reduced. The new detour for light vehicles will now be SH32, Old Taupō Road, Kinleith Road and vice versa.

Heavy vehicles should continue to use SH5/SH30.

NZTA expect the road to be fully open during the week beginning 25 November.

SH1 Putāruru to Tokoroa closure begins 5am 22 Nov

Work will start on the Putāruru to Tokoroa section of SH1 at 5am Saturday 23 November (delayed from 22 November). This closure will be in place until 12 noon on Friday 20 December 2024.

NZTA could not delay starting this work, as the road has to be ready for all the Christmas action. A New Zealand wide road works moratorium is in place from Friday 20 December, finishing on Monday 6 January 2025.

SH1 will be closed to through-traffic from SH1/Princes Street, Putāruru to SH1/SH32 Tokoroa intersection. All north and south bound SH1 light vehicles will be detoured via Princes Street, Arapuni Street, Arapuni Road, Waotu Road, Old Taupō Road, SH32 - Tokoroa and vice versa. This will add approximately 15 mins and 11km to journey times.

There will be a temporary speed limit of 70km/h along the entirety of the detour route.

The "hard closure" (the worksite) is from SH1/Vospers Road to SH1/Rollett Road. There will be a “soft closure” in Putāruru, between SH1/Princes Street intersection and Vospers Road/Ngatira Road, Lichfield.

There is also a soft closure at the southern end, up to Rollett Road.  While still allowing access to businesses and residents, these soft closures are in place to send those on longer journeys down appropriate detours.

Southbound traffic will not be able to travel beyond Vospers/Ngatira roads. Northbound traffic will be able to travel as far north as SH1 Rollett Road.

Heavy vehicles are asked to take SH5 and SH30 East (Rotorua section).

Trucks and through traffic travelling between 7pm and 6am may want to consider taking SH5 via Rotorua to avoid the night closure between Tīrau and Putāruru which starts on 24 November 2024.

NZTA will need to come back sometime next year to do additional work in the northern section between Domain and Vospers roads and will advise when the schedule for this is confirmed.

Tīrau to Putāruru night closures

From Sunday 24 November NZTA will be back to complete the final surface on the stretch of SH1 that they first closed back in September – from just south of Tīrau to just north of Putāruru.

This night-only closure is to lay the final asphalt surface to complete the 5.75km of road rebuild.

This asphalting will be done from Sunday 24 November until Thursday 5 December, working Sunday to Thursday nights only. The road will be closed from 7pm to 6am on those dates.

The detour will be the same as it was in September, via SH28 and SH5.

Through traffic from the north heading to Taupō may want to consider continuing on SH5 via Rotorua to avoid the closure between Putāruru and Tokoroa mentioned above.